Tribute to Harvey Sklaw
by Professor John Wefing

Harvey M. Sklaw, Professor Emeritus at Seton Hall Law School, passed away June 16, 2007 at the age of 78 after a brief illness.

Sklaw was born February 29, 1929 in Newark, New Jersey. He was a graduate of Rutgers University and Seton Hall University School of Law. He became a member of the Seton Hall Law University School of Law faculty in 1965, focusing on consumer protection and products liability law.

”Professor Harvey Sklaw was one of those early institution builders of Seton Hall Law School,” said Dean Patrick E. Hobbs. “He was a talented professor, popular with his students, and a giving colleague. He was one of legal education's earliest advocates for increasing its international outlook. He will be missed by all members of the Seton Hall community.”

Besides serving as a faculty member for over 40 years, and briefly as an associate dean, Sklaw was responsible for starting the first “summer abroad” program at Seton Hall Law. After he retired from Seton Hall Law, he continued to serve as a visiting professor at the universities of Milan and Parma in Italy.

“The program Harvey began was in Italy and he loved running it,” said Professor John Wefing. “Thanks to Harvey’s efforts, the program was a great success. It started a trend that led to Seton Hall Law running four successful study abroad programs in different parts of the world.”

Sklaw leaves behind his wife, Renee, two sons Laurence and Kenneth and four grandchildren. Donations may be made in his memory to the Harvey M. Sklaw Scholarship Fund, Seton Hall School of Law, One Newark Center, Newark, NJ, 07102.

 

An instrumental figure in gaining accreditation for Seton Hall University School of Law and a popular and well-respected teacher, Professor Emeritus Gerard M. Carey passed away peacefully Monday morning, January 16, at the age of 84.

Carey joined Seton Hall School of Law in 1954 to assist then Dean Miriam T. Rooney with gaining accreditation by the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), which was gained in 1955 and 1960 respectively. A dedicated and talented teacher, he taught Civil Procedure, Torts, and Constitutional Law among other courses. He was one of Seton Hall School of Law’s most popular teachers and remained an active faculty member until his retirement to professor emeritus in 1991. In 2002, he was presented with Seton Hall School of Law’s Miriam T. Rooney Award for Distinguished Service.

Press Release - January 18, 2006
 

Peter W. Rodino, Jr.
Visiting Professor of Constitutional Law 

“The Blessings of Liberty embody the heart and soul of our being as a nation. We must assume the responsibility of securing those blessings, which are at the core of our Constitutional rights, by respecting each other, by demanding integrity and accountability of our leaders, and by trying, each in our own way, to make a difference for the betterment of the people.” Peter W. Rodino, Jr. 

The son of an Italian immigrant carpenter, Peter W. Rodino, Jr., had a successful and influential career in politics after which he chose to join Seton Hall School of Law as a Visiting Professor of Constitutional Law in 1989. He held that position until he passed away in May 2005.  

He received his law degree from New Jersey Law School, now Rutgers School of Law – Newark, in 1937. Subsequently, he volunteered for service in World War II where he earned the Bronze Star. He was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1948 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1989. His forty years of dedicated service are best described in the Almanac of American Politics (1986, p. 859). 

“One strength of the American political system is that it has produced people of extraordinary talent who have happened to find their way into crucial positions at critical times and who have performed far better than their records gave anyone the right to expect.  Such leaders have come from the most unlikely places: a Lincoln from the Midwestern hick town of Springfield, Illinois; a Franklin Roosevelt from the aristocratic patron families of the Hudson Valley.  In that tradition is Peter Rodino, from Newark, New Jersey…” 

During his tenure, Congressman Rodino presided over the Watergate hearings and played instrumental roles in the enactment of many historical pieces of legislation in the fields of civil rights, crime control, anti-trust law, and immigration reform. He has received numerous national and international awards in recognition of his service, including the dedication of the Peter W. Rodino Jr. Law Library at Seton Hall Law and the creation of the Peter W. Rodino Professor of Law Chair. 

Andrea Catania
Professor of Law

A member of the Seton Hall School of Law faculty, Professor Andrea Catania dedicated her professional career to attracting and nurturing students and faculty with a passion to excel. She served as chair of Seton Hall Law’s Admission Committee for years and held a critical position as member of the Faculty Appointment Committee.

A graduate of Groucher College and Wesleyan University, she taught high school social studies before attending St. John's University School of Law. After graduating from law school in 1976, she joined Cole & Dietz in New York City. In 1980, she joined the faculty of Seton Hall Law. She prided herself on making her classes new and exciting for her students, and her door was always open, not just to her students, but to each member of the Law School community. 

“Andrea was a wonderful friend, a talented teacher and scholar and a tireless institution builder,” noted Dean Patrick E. Hobbs upon the creation of the scholarship fund that exists in her name. Also established in her honor was The Andrea J. Catania Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching.

Professor Catania taught a wide range of courses, including Business Associations, Remedies and Tort Reform. Her passion, however, was in the procedural area. She taught Civil Procedures and New York Practice for two decades. She also served as faculty advisor to the Seton Hall Law Review. In 1999, she was awarded the Law School's Miriam T. Rooney Award for Distinguished Service.

As Dean of Seton Hall Law from 1971 to 1977, John F.X. Irving not only guided the school through turbulent times, but oversaw a nearly three-fold expansion in the faculty, a doubling in the student body and the raising of the school’s profile and reputation. 

Born and raised in Jersey City, he graduated from St. Peter’s Prep and St. Peter’s College. He received his law degree from Fordham University in 1956 and an advanced law degree from New York University. He worked for the American Bar Association in Chicago before becoming dean. 

Following the race riots of 1967 and continuing unrest in Newark, Dean Irving became a key player in resisting efforts to move the Law School outside the city. His interests in problems resulting from placing minors in the same detention centers as adults also was the springboard for Seton Hall’s juvenile justice program. 

 “Dean Irving’s legacy probably isn’t understood by everyone in the university today,” noted Dean Patrick E. Hobbs. “But his contributions were significant and they laid the foundation for the school to be what it is today.” 

A member of various legal organizations, boards, steering committees and panels, Dean Irving wrote extensively on the law and was a consultant to more than two dozen private, civic and government groups. In 1976, he was presented with the David Ben-Gurion Award from Israel for his work with the Israel-American Friendship League and Committee of Christian Lawyers for Peace and Justice in the Middle East.

James Boskey was a faculty member at Seton Hall for 18 years, teaching family law as well as ADR courses. At the same time, he was a private practitioner specializing in family law, including mediation, and in corporate and securities dispute resolution.

He published extensively in the area of dispute resolution. Boskey created and published The Alternative Newsletter, an alternative dispute resolution resource guide read by lawyers and mediators globally. In January 1998, he received the Outstanding Practical Achievement Award from the New York-based Center of Public Resources (CPR) Institute for Dispute Resolution, which called the newsletter "the single most comprehensive resource guide available to ADR developments in all fields."

After graduating from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology, Boskey earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a master of law degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was a member of the New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Indiana bars.

An amateur actor and supporter of the arts, Boskey was on the board of directors of Livingston Community Players. He is survived by his wife Adele, and their daughter Elizabeth.